Family of Man Who Bled to Death in Immigration Custody Sues Hudson County Over Medical Care

Family of Man Who Bled to Death in Immigration Custody Sues Hudson County Over Medical Care

(New York, NY—May 30)—The family of Carlos Bonilla, a father of four who died from internal bleeding in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, has filed a lawsuit against Hudson County and those responsible for his medical care while he was confined to immigration detention at Hudson County Correctional Center.

Mr. Bonilla’s youngest daughter was eight years old when he died. He had a scheduled bond hearing in his immigration case but was never able to make his argument for release. Instead, he was hospitalized with severe internal bleeding and died two days later, just over two months after he’d been arrested by ICE and confined at Hudson County Correctional Center.

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and Dechert LLP filed a civil rights and tort lawsuit in federal court today in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey arising out of Mr. Bonilla’s wrongful death. The case details how Hudson County, Hudson County Correctional Center, CFG Health Systems (the contracted medical provider at the time), individuals in charge at those entities, and individual medical providers responsible for treating Mr. Bonilla egregiously failed to evaluate or treat deadly complications from cirrhosis, a chronic and life-threatening liver disease. There have been more than 17 deaths since 2013 at Hudson County Correctional Center, and multiple reports have detailed a long history of serious problems with medical care at the facility.

Mr. Bonilla, a long-time resident of Long Island, was the loving parent of four children whom he helped support by doing construction work. Prior to his detention, Mr. Bonilla received medical treatment in the community for complications of cirrhosis. Hudson County Correctional Center was aware that Mr. Bonilla had been diagnosed with serious medical conditions and had a history of prescribed medications to manage complications of cirrhosis. Mr. Bonilla had multiple interactions with medical staff at the Hudson County Correctional Center, including requesting additional medical care. Nevertheless, Defendants did not have a medical plan for him or provide evaluation or care for Mr. Bonilla’s cirrhosis.

The lawsuit contains constitutional and state law claims seeking to hold Defendants accountable for Mr. Bonilla’s untimely death, and to recover damages for his children.

Marinda van Dalen, Senior Attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, said: “The deep deficiencies in medical care provided to people in immigration detention have serious and even life-threatening results, as illustrated tragically by the case of Carlos Bonilla.”

“There is a human rights crisis in detention facilities in this country. Hudson County, Hudson County Correctional Center, and CFG have a history of failing to provide adequate medical care to the people detained there and must be held accountable. We bring this case on behalf of Mr. Bonilla’s family to right that very serious wrongs that resulted in Mr. Bonilla’s death,” said Maureen Belluscio, Senior Attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.

“We are proud to partner with New York Lawyers for Public Interest on this critically important suit,” said Michelle Hart Yeary, Counsel at Dechert LLP, which is representing plaintiffs pro bono. “We hope this case will be a positive step in remedying the serious wrongs being inflicted on immigrants in detention who are being denied necessary and appropriate medical care.”

About New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI)

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest has fought for more than 40 years to protect civil rights and achieve lived equality for communities in need. NYLPI combines the power of law, organizing, and the private bar to make lasting change where it’s needed most.

NYLPI’s Health Justice work brings a racial equity and immigrant justice focus to health care advocacy in New York City and State. Thousands of immigrant New Yorkers receive abysmal health care in immigrant detention facilities in and around the City. Through NYLPI’s Detained and Denied report and ongoing investigation, we have documented this growing human rights crisis – denials of vital treatment, delayed surgeries, missed life-threatening diagnoses, and horrendous surgical errors.

Dechert is a leading global law firm with 27 offices around the world. Dechert advises on matters and transactions of the greatest complexity, bringing energy, creativity and efficient management of legal issues to deliver commercial and practical advice for clients. For more information, visit https://www.dechert.com/.

Press Coverage

The daughter of a man who died while in immigration custody filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday against Hudson County and its jail, where he was held before he died of internal bleeding at a local hospital.

Joanna Bonilla, the daughter of Carlos Bonilla and administrator of his estate, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Newark, and also names as a defendant CFG Health Systems, which was the medical provider at the jail at the time of her father’s death in June 2017.

The lawsuit also names nine people described by attorneys as “individual medical providers responsible for treating Mr. Bonilla,” who they claim failed to evaluate or treat deadly complications from cirrhosis, a chronic and life-threatening liver disease. They include a doctor, the medical director, a nurse practitioner, the health services administrator, two registered nurses, and the director of nursing as well as the jail director.

“There were many times that Mr. Bonilla interacted with the medical staff at the facility. In fact, the sick calls that he made are in his medical file and they are very tragic,” said Marinda van Dalen, an attorney on the case and a senior staff attorney with the Disability Justice and Health Justice program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. “He was really pleading for medical help, asking to see a doctor when he was being treated by nurses, saying that he didn’t feel well, and asking for medical help. And time and again, he didn’t receive the care he really needed, which was treatment for cirrhosis.”

James Kennelly, the spokesman for Hudson County, declined comment. A representative for CFG Health Systems LLC of Marlton did not immediately return a call for comment on Thursday.

Last year, Hudson County terminated its five-year contract with CFG Health Systems, after the death of an inmate who hanged himself in his cell. The death had been the sixth of an inmate at the facility within nine months.

Bonilla, the father of four who had been living in the United States for nearly 25 years, owned a construction company with his brother to provide for his family. Bonilla, who was born in El Salvador, was arrested for being in the country illegally by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on April 1, 2017, while he worked at a construction site on Long Island.

Prior to his detention, Bonilla received medical treatment in the community for complications of cirrhosis of the liver, including anemia and gastrointestinal bleeding, according to the suit.

“When Mr. Bonilla was living in his community – and not confined at Hudson County Correctional Center – he was able to access proper medical evaluation and treatment, and repeatedly recovered from these complications,” the suit says. “Following each of these complications, Mr. Bonilla was able to return to his work, life, and family.”

After his arrest, Bonilla was taken to the Hudson County jail, which has an agreement with ICE to hold its detainees. There, according to the suit, a nurse conducted an intake examination, which led him to be labeled a “priority level: urgent,” because of his diabetes, according to the suit. But the lawsuit claims that the priority did not include an examination, evaluation, or treatment for Bonilla’s cirrhosis and related complications.

The lawsuit claims that staff at the Hudson County jail were aware that Bonilla had been diagnosed with serious medical conditions and had a history of prescribed medications to manage complications of cirrhosis. It also claims that Bonilla told a nurse practitioner on the first day about his cirrhosis, but that he wasn’t given treatment or provided with his prescribed medications.

The lawsuit describes several instances of Bonilla reaching out to medical staff and “desperately advocating for his medical care.” He suffered a nosebleed two weeks after he entered detention, a complication of cirrhosis, according to the suit. Sick calls were also registered on April 25, May 3, May 11, May 18, and June 7.

“Over and over, he pleaded for help based on symptoms that can indicate dangerous complications of cirrhosis, including anemia, fever, weakness, dizziness, nosebleed, infection, and abdominal pain,” the suit states. “Mr. Bonilla also implored that he needed to see a doctor, having only been seen by nurses and nurse practitioners and that he needed to have his blood tested.”

In the early hours of June 8, while Bonilla was leaving his cell to attend a hearing on whether he would be released on bond, his speech became slurred, he was dizzy and stumbling which led the jail to call an emergency code, according to the suit. Bonilla was taken by stretcher to the jail’s clinic, and about two hours later was transported to Jersey City Medical Center.

His family, at the time, was waiting for him in immigration court on Varick Street in Manhattan.

By the time he arrived at the hospital, according to the suit, Bonilla had blood in his stool, blood clots in his esophagus, abdominal pain, dizziness and weakness. Two days later, he died. His official cause of death was “internal bleeding and hemorrhagic shock,” caused by varices, which the suit says is a common and manageable complication experienced by patients.

Van Dalen, one of the attorneys representing Bonilla’s daughter in the case, said that the care Bonilla received was “grossly inadequate,” and that he was just given Tylenol and other antibiotics when he sought help, but not the prescription medication that he had been using to treat his illness.

“His medical records are completely void of any mention other than he had been diagnosed with the condition,” she said.

She said the death of Bonilla is a systemic problem, and that such facilities who hold immigrant detainees are not equipped to care for people with chronic illnesses.

“Especially those with special medical conditions, it can be deadly,” she said. “Mr. Bonilla should have been living in his community with his family while his immigration case was proceeding, instead of in a jail.”

The jail has been under scrutiny since Bonilla’s death, which led to two county investigations and the dismissal of medical employees. His death and that of another inmate, Jenifer Towle, weeks later by suicide, led the jail to come under fire about poor medical care at the site.

Bonilla’s death has “devastated” the family, and caused financial hardships on his children, according to the suit.

“Mr. Bonilla left behind four children, the youngest was only 8 years old… and they want the world to know about this tragedy and what happened to their father, how he was killed by the defendants because they failed to provide him with the medical care that he needed,” van Dalen said. “And they also want to shed light on what happened… to their family and how it has left them broken and so so sad.”

The suit is seeking a judgment against defendants, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

The family of a Long Island man who died in immigration custody is suing the Hudson County jail that detained him and failed to treat his known medical conditions, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday evening in federal court in New Jersey.

Carlos Bonilla, a 43-year-old father of four, died from internal bleeding due to cirrhosis, despite medical staff at the Hudson County Correctional Center in Kearny, N.J., knowing about his condition, according to the 52-page complaint.

Bonilla was picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on his way to work for the construction company he owned with his brother. The ICE-contracted facility where he was detained did not have a medical plan for Bonilla or provide an evaluation or care for his cirrhosis, the lawsuit attests. The facility has been the subject of controversy for years both for its relationship with ICE as well as its medical treatment of inmates.

The lawsuit also alleges that Bonilla, who resided in the country for 25 years after emigrating from Central America, bled for three days in detention before he hemorrhaged to death. Neither the lawsuit nor the lawyers confirmed Bonilla’s immigration status.

“He was transported to the hospital on the very date that he was scheduled to appear before an immigration judge to determine whether he would be released on bond to his family and community,” the complaint states.

“We hope to not only hold [the county, the correctional facility and the medical professionals] accountable but also shed light on this sadly not unusual, absolute inadequate medical care being provided at facilities where people are being detained while their immigration cases are pending,” said Marinda van Dalen, senior attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and a lead attorney on the case. “They did absolutely nothing about [his medical needs].

The family has not listed the amount of money it is seeking in the lawsuit.

“In terms of the litigation, large civil rights lawsuits take a long time,” van Dalen said. “It’s not unusual for them to take years.”

There have been more than 17 deaths at the ICE-contracted facility since 2013, along with multiple reports that the detention center has “a long history of serious problems with [providing] medical care,” according to the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.

Although Hudson County officials said they would take steps to end the county’s five-year, $29 million contract with ICE, the county freeholder board voted to give itself power to approve a new contract in 2020, according to The Jersey Journal.

Father of Four ‘Bled to Death’ in ICE Custody: Lawsuit

Julia Arciga

05.31.193:56 PM ET

A father of four “bled to death from the inside out” for at least three days in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in 2017 after medical professionals at a New Jersey jail allegedly failed to properly address his pre-existing health concerns.

Carlos Bonilla’s eldest daughter filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Hudson County, Hudson County Correctional Center, private health provider CFG Health Systems, and a number of individuals who treated Bonilla—claiming the parties provided “devastatingly inadequate medical care” to Bonilla while in immigration detention and caused “internal bleeding and hemorrhagic shock.”

A spokesman for Hudson County Correctional Center did not respond to requests for comment. Jeanine Miles, a Director of Business Development & Marketing at CFG Health Systems, said the company wasn’t able to comment due to “pending litigation” but said it provides care “consistent with community standards.”

According to the lawsuit, Bonilla lived in the U.S. for almost 25 years after being born in El Salvador. He owned a construction company with his brother to support his three daughters and son, and was arrested by ICE in April 2017 while at a Long Island construction site. He suffered from a chronic liver disease called cirrhosis and diabetes at the time, and was treated for cirrhosis complications—including gastrointestinal bleeding—prior to his arrest.

When Bonilla arrived at the Hudson County jail, which holds ICE detainees, he underwent an intake examination where Bonilla told the nurse practitioner about his serious liver condition, the lawsuit states. Officials at the jail were allegedly aware of his medical history, but they didn’t give him his prescribed medications.

Two weeks after he was detained, Bonilla suffered a nosebleed—a complication of cirrhosis. Medical professionals also saw Bonilla on multiple sick calls on April 25, May 3, May 11, May 18, and June 7, according to the lawsuit.

While Bonilla was leaving his cell for his bond hearing on June 8, Hudson County Correctional Center allegedly called an emergency code at 4:38 a.m. after he started slurring his speech, stumbling to the floor, and reporting dizziness and diarrhea. He was transferred to Jersey City Medical Center about two hours later, where he was determined to have “blood in his stool, blood clots in his esophagus, abdominal pain” along with “weakness” and “dizziness.”

On June 10, Bonilla died at the hospital at the age of 43 from internal bleeding caused by a “common and manageable complication” of cirrhosis while allegedly “experiencing agonizing pain and suffering.” At the time, two of his children were minors—the youngest of which was eight. According to Marinda van Dalen, a New York Lawyers for the Public Interest attorney on the case, medical records indicated that Bonilla started bleeding internally three days before he died.

“This is a lawsuit about a tragic death a father or four. They don’t have him to parent them and support them,” Van Dalen told The Daily Beast. “It was preventable, he shouldn’t have died… he should have been home in his community with access to proper medical care. He would still be alive if he wasn’t jailed.”

According to The North Jersey Record, the jail terminated its contract last year with its private health provider—CFG Health Systems—after an inmate hung himself in his cell and died in 2018. The death marked the sixth inmate death at the jail in the last nine months.

Van Dalen said the “number of deaths, reports, litigation” against CFG Health Systems was “unusual” but remarked that it was a “typical” issue.

“This facility like many others is not equipped to provide medical care for long periods of time,” she said. “The family brought this lawsuit to hold people accountable for death of father, and for failing to provide adequate medical care.”

Carlos Bonilla, a 43-year-old father of four, died June 10, 2017, from internal bleeding sustained during his confinement at Hudson County Correctional Center in New Jersey. His family has now filed a lawsuit against Hudson County, the center, Marlton-based correctional health care provider CFG Health Systems and others responsible for his medical care during his confinement.

The federal lawsuit alleges inadequate medical treatment and training of medical professionals as well as that Bonilla’s death was wrongful.

Hudson County operates the center and contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold people in confinement who are in the midst of deportation proceedings. The lawsuit alleges that Hudson County contracted with CFG Health Systems “to provide low-cost—and grossly inadequate—medical care.” Hudson County last year terminated its $29 million contract with CFG, a complaint filed on behalf of Bonilla’s family states, following public outrage over deaths at the center.

Inadequate medical care at Hudson County Correctional Center has led to multiple deaths in recent years, the complaint states, adding that there have been 17 deaths at the center since 2013.

Bonilla had lived in the U.S. for 25 years at the time he was arrested April 1, 2017, by ICE, according to the complaint. He had worked at a construction company he owned with his brother and had been receiving regular treatment for cirrhosis, a chronic liver disease. That care included prescriptions essential to prevent and manage potentially deadly complications from the disease.

But when Bonilla arrived at the correctional center and reported his history of cirrhosis, the defendants “repeatedly failed to evaluate and treat him,” even after he asked for help, the complaint states.

“Instead of evaluating the progression of Mr. Bonilla’s cirrhosis, coming up with a treatment plan, considering Mr. Bonilla’s medical history, referring Mr. Bonilla to a specialist or simply prescribing the medication he had already been prescribed, defendants left him to languish, suffer and eventually die horrifically and unnecessarily,” the complaint states.

Bonilla died just over two months after he was detained; his cause of death was internal bleeding and hemorrhagic shock caused by enlarged veins, a common and manageable complication of cirrhosis. The complaint alleges he began to bleed three days before his death.

“He was trying to advocate for himself,” said Marinda van Dalen, a senior staff attorney with the Disability Justice and Health Justice programs at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, who is representing Bonilla’s family in the lawsuit.

“This is a really tragic example of a larger systemic problem that advocates are seeing across the country in various types of facilities,” said Maureen Belluscio, a senior staff attorney with the Disability Justice program, who also is representing Bonilla’s family in the lawsuit.

Hudson County, ICE and CFG declined to comment on the pending litigation. CFG stated it “continues to provide care consistent with community standards.”

In addition to New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, international law firm Dechert is representing Bonilla’s family in the suit pro bono.

“We hope this case will be a positive step in remedying the serious wrongs being inflicted on immigrants in detention who are being denied necessary and appropriate medical care,” Michelle Hart Yeary, counsel at Dechert, said.

The family of an ICE detainee who died while in custody at the Hudson County jail has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the man’s death was the result of inadequate medical care at the facility.

Carlos Bonilla, a 43-year-old father of four, died June 10, 2017 following a two-month stint in ICE detention at the jail in Kearny. He is one of 17 people who have died at the jail since 2013, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday.

“Mr. Bonilla died from complications of cirrhosis, a treatable condition (the defendants) knew about — but failed to evaluate and treat — despite their knowledge and Mr. Bonilla’s repeated requests for medical attention,” according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Bonilla’s family.

“The devastatingly inadequate medical care defendants dispensed to Mr. (Carlos) Bonilla is not an anomaly at Hudson County Correctional Center,” the complaint states.

Bonilla, a resident of Long Island who lived in the United States for 25 years, owned and operated a construction company when he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Central Islip, New York on April 1, 2017. He was taken to the Kearny jail, which houses immigration detainees under a agreement between Hudson County and the federal government.

The suit claims that from “day one” medical staff at the jail knew Bonilla suffered from cirrhosis and its complications but failed to evaluate and treat the liver condition, even though they were aware he had been previously treated for the illness.

The suit alleges medical providers at the jail created a system in which Bonilla was evaluated and treated by nurses who were unqualified to do so. The medical providers also failed to create a treatment plan for Bonilla, did not provide medications previously prescribed to treat his illness and related complications, and failed to provide or arrange for specialty care, the lawsuit states.

At the jail, “doctors and administrators have abdicated their responsibility to provide medical care to the facility’s nurses, regardless of a patient’s condition, diagnosis, or need for a doctor’s care,” the suit alleges. “This has left nurses to provide (or fail to provide) care far beyond their qualifications…”

Spokespeople for Hudson County and ICE declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation. CFG Health Systems did not respond to an email and telephone message seeking comment.

According to the lawsuit, two days before his death Bonilla had slurred speech, was dizzy, stumbling, and reported having diarrhea when he was taken from his cell to appear in immigration court. He was rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center where he was found to be suffering from blood clots in his throat, bloody stool, weakness, and other conditions, the suit says.

Bonilla was dead two days later, the suit says, adding that his children were 8, 17, 21, and 24 years old at the time of his death.

The suit states the county, jail, and CFG had a custom of providing inadequate medical care at the jail. In March 2018, “after mounting public outrage” over deaths at the jail, Hudson County terminated its five-year, 29-million-dollar contract with CFG, which it entered into in 2016, the suit says.

The suit also notes that Hudson County has contracted with ICE to incarcerate people at the jail since 1996 and in “2017 alone, Hudson County made eight million dollars in profit from this lucrative contract.”

“This unfortunate tragedy has resulted in many reforms at HCCC when it comes to the quality of care provided to inmates and detainees at the facility,” Hudson County Freeholder Bill O’Dea said. “Particularly, now the director of corrections does not wait for pre-approval from ICE before sending detainees out to hospitals for procedures.”

In late 2018, the county created the Hudson County Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Advisory Board to examine the medical and mental health services offered to regular inmates and immigration detainees at the county jail and to implement improvements.

The nine-count civil suit filed by the nonprofit New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and Dechert LLP seeks damages of various forms, costs, and legal fees.

The family of Carlos Bonilla, 47, a father of four who died as a result of internal bleeding in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, has filed a lawsuit against Hudson County and those responsible for his medical care while he was confined to immigration detention at Hudson County Correctional Center.

Bonilla’s youngest daughter was eight years old when he died. He had a scheduled bond hearing in his immigration case but was never able to make his argument for release. Instead, he was hospitalized with severe internal bleeding and died two days later, just over two months after he’d been arrested by ICE and confined at Hudson County Correctional Center.

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and Dechert LLP filed a civil rights and tort lawsuit in federal court on May 30 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey arising out of Bonilla’s wrongful death. The suit details how Hudson County; Hudson County Correctional Center; CFG Health Systems (the contracted medical provider at the time); individuals in charge at those entities; and individual medical providers responsible for treating Mr. Bonilla “egregiously failed to evaluate or treat deadly complications from cirrhosis, a chronic and life-threatening liver disease.”

A history of neglect

There have been more than 17 deaths since 2013 at Hudson County Correctional Center. Multiple reports have detailed a long history of serious problems with medical care at the facility.

Mejia-Bonilla was using the name Rolando Meza Espinoza, who was supposedly an immigrant from Honduras, when he was arrested by ICE agents on a construction site on Long Island. The immigration enforcement officers were trying to find a different man by that same name who was supposed to be deported in 2005.

Mejia-Bonilla reportedly told the authorities that they had the wrong person, but he was locked up at the Hudson County Correctional Facility where he eventually died.

His family believes the lack of care may have led to his death.

At least two reports at the time revealed problems with the facility’s medical care.

Federal immigration officials said in a release that Mejia-Bonilla “died of complications of a previous medical condition.”

While incarcerated, Mejia-Bonilla informed his family that he was worried about his health and that he wasn’t receiving the medication he needed.

The family waits

On June 8, Mejia-Bonilla’s family was waiting in court for him to appear at his bond hearing, but he never showed. They tracked down a jail officer and learned he had been taken to Jersey City Medical Center.

“Prior to his detention, Mr. Bonilla received medical treatment in the community for complications of cirrhosis,” the lawsuit claims. The suit also claims that Hudson County Correctional Center was aware that Bonilla had been diagnosed with serious medical conditions and had a history of prescribed medications to manage complications of cirrhosis.

“Mr. Bonilla had multiple interactions with medical staff at the Hudson County Correctional Center, including requesting additional medical care. Nevertheless, Defendants did not have a medical plan for him or provide evaluation or care for Mr. Bonilla’s cirrhosis,” according to the lawsuit

The lawsuit seeks to hold defendants accountable for Mr. Bonilla’s untimely death, and to recover damages for his children.

Human rights crisis

Marinda van Dalen, senior attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, said: “The deep deficiencies in medical care provided to people in immigration detention have serious and even life-threatening results, as illustrated tragically by the case of Carlos Bonilla.”

“There is a human rights crisis in detention facilities in this country,” said Maureen Belluscio, senior attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. “Hudson County, Hudson County Correctional Center, and CFG have a history of failing to provide adequate medical care to the people detained there and must be held accountable. We bring this case on behalf of Mr. Bonilla’s family to right that very serious wrong that resulted in Mr. Bonilla’s death.”

“He should never have been in our facility,” said Freeholder Bill O’Dea, who also explained that one of the problems involved delays imposed by ICE’s procedures. “The process that ICE has – you need to get their approval before certain medical procedures can be done — makes no sense. That’s part of the reason why things like this sometimes happen.

Lapses at the correctional center

Two reports issued early last year shed light on conditions at the Hudson County Correctional Center as county officials probed the deaths of five inmates in eight months from 2016 to 2017.

A county-commissioned report claimed that inmates may have been assigned tasks involving patients, and that one suicidal inmate was not adequately supervised. Inmates with medial issues were often not provided with the proper care.

Hudson County made massive changes to the facility as a result of these reports, including the creation of a suicide task force. The county replaced the medical care provider.

“We put millions into physical changes to the medical facility, improved the psychiatric and replaced the medical provider. This death was probably the deciding factor in replacing the medical provider,” O’Dea said. “I believe the steps will significantly impact something like this happening again in the future. As a result of this case, we made a policy that County would no longer wait for ICE to authorize certain medical procedures. We will get it done, and then fight ICE to get reimbursed later.”

The facility has seen a recent increase in the number of prisoners. More than 100 detainees were admitted this month as a result of immigration arrests on the Mexican border.

“They don’t have room for them out West, so they are sending them to us,” O’Dea said.

This will impose additional medical challenges, he said, because in some cases many have not had proper medical care from their country of origins.

The 52-page lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey on Thursday, claims that Carlos Bonilla, 43, a father of four, died at the facility on June 10th, 2017, after being detained for just over two months.

“When Mr. Bonilla arrived at Hudson County Correctional Center, and reported his history of cirrhosis, Defendants repeatedly failed to evaluate and treat him. Mr. Bonilla’s family seeks to hold Defendants accountable for their failure to ensure that Mr. Bonilla received essential medical care,” the suit claims.

The suit also says that Bonilla’s cause of death was “internal bleeding and hemorrhagic shock,” claiming that bleeding began at least three days prior to his death.

Furthermore, the lawsuit names Hudson County government, the jail, CFG Health Systems and various health professionals and corrections officers as defendants, claiming healthcare professionals did not perform their jobs and/or were unqualified to be at their posts.

The suit was brought forward by his oldest daughter, Joanna, 23, and through the court filing, reiterates that her father would still be alive if the jail had proper supervision, training and medical care.

Bonilla is represented by the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and Dechert LLP, who are seeking legal fees, pre- and post-judgement interests and any other relief the court deems just and equitable.

A county spokesman declined to comment on the suit, citing a policy not to discuss ongoing litigation.

Lawsuit: ICE detainee died at New Jersey jail due to poor medical care

June 4, 2019

KEARNY – A new lawsuit claims an ICE detainee died at the Hudson County jail because of poor medical care. Carlos Bonilla, 43, died back in 2017 after being in the Kearny jail for two months. Bonilla was a father of four. According to the suit filed by Bonilla’s family, the medical staff knew he suffered from cirrhosis, but failed to evaluate and treat him.

The suit also says Bonilla is one of 17 people who’ve died at the jail since 2013. Bonilla was a resident of Long Island and lived in the U.S. for 25 years. He owned and operated a construction company.

Neglect in detention isn’t limited to one facility, or a single company, said Maureen Belluscio, a senior staff attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, which recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a New Jersey jail and private healthcare provider on behalf of the family of a detainee who died in 2017.

Carlos Bonilla, a father of four, told the medical staff about his liver cirrhosis when he arrived at the Hudson County Correctional Center in April 2017, according to the complaint filed in late May. The local jail, which has for years contracted with ICE to house detainees, has been the subject of several exposes about its medical care.

He had a cough, stomach pain, rash, fever, dizziness, and nose bleeds, according to the complaint, all symptoms of complications from cirrhosis. Bonilla repeatedly “pleaded for medical care,” Belluscio said. “Each was an opportunity for someone to do something, but they didn’t, and it killed him.”

On June 8, 2017, Bonilla was supposed to have a hearing to determine whether he would be released on bond. Instead, he was rushed to the emergency room, where he died two days later of “internal bleeding and hemorrhagic shock.”

A spokesman for the Hudson County Correctional Center declined to comment due to ongoing litigation.

NBC News filed a public records request nearly a year ago for the internal death reviews in nearly a dozen cases, including Bonilla’s. ICE has yet to release the reports, which are public record.